Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Visually, the game is pretty solid. When I was watching other people play it, I was absolutely floored by the level of detail and the number of moving objects onscreen. From a macro standpoint, the game is exquisitely beautiful. When I was playing I noticed more flaws. None of them were terrible by any means, but up close the game isn't as impressive as what's happening in the background. The character models look good and are accurate portrayals of their big-screen counterparts. The animations are nice too, though I wish there were more of them. Casual gamers that are fans of the movie will definitely think that the game looks perfect, while graphics snobs will notice little imperfections and the average framerate.

The level design is a bit uneven. The first level of The King's Path is overly foggy and kind of boring to look at. Some of the areas are quite small as well. There were a few levels that blew me away though. Pelennor Fields was loads of fun, with hundreds of orcs for you to slaughter on the battlefield and hills you had to climb to dispatch giant Oliphants. The Black Gate was incredibly, with dozens of baddies in the background and small battle area filled with frenetic carnage. Cirith Ungol was probably the most interesting level; the hobbits had to take advantage of several interactive objects to overcome some overwhelming odds. Though it starts off slowly, most people will be pleased with the game's latter levels.

Hobbits gone wild!

Aurally, the game is just about perfect. I'm a big fan of Howard Shore's score and love hearing it in an interactive setting. The character voices are plentiful and will definitely please fans of the movies. I only wish there was a mute button on character dialogue so I wouldn't have to listen to that little Mary named Legolas. I just can't back a guy that surfs shields and plays with horses. He's just a Middle-earth metrosexual but I digress.

While I had plenty of fun playing the game in single-player mode, cooperative quests were even more fun. The game can be played by two players. Oftentimes co-op play became like the Helm's Deep battle in the movie where Gimli and Legolas competed for the most kills. It was loads of fun working together while simultaneously seeing who could pull of the most perfects. Like most co-op games, there were some minor camera issues that arose, but they were trifle nothing compared to how much fun it was to play with a pal.

I spent most of my Middle-earth adventure with the Xbox version of the game. The Type-S gamepad worked perfectly for me. The graphics and load times were also superior to the PS2 version's. If I were strictly buying The Return of the King for single-player purposes I'd go with the Xbox edition. If you have a Network Adaptor for your PS2, the online cooperative play is too good to pass up.

Uhmmmm, how's it going?

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a fantastic game that will appeal to a wide variety of people. Its topnotch presentation and strong graphics are sure to lure in casual fans that will have an easy time picking up its accessible gameplay. Frequent gamers that enjoy action games should dig its numerous combos and tougher difficulty levels. The Return of the King is a broadly appealing title that offers plenty of action and bonuses that will keep fans of the movie pleased as punch until the film comes out. If you liked the movies in the slightest, go out and get it unless you're one of those lamers that will cry, "Spoiler!" after seeing five minutes of the movie's footage.